A sign advertising job openings hangs outside a restaurant in Middleton, Mass., last month. At 4.3 percent unemployment, the jobs rate is near the point that most economists deem full employment.

Elise Amendola
/ AP

Originally published on August 4, 2017 10:49 am

The U.S. economy created an estimated 209,000 jobs in July, representing a modest slowdown from the previous month but coming in better than many economists had expected. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its monthly report that, statistically, July showed little change from previous months, as the number of unemployed persons remained around 7 million.

At 4.3 percent, the jobs rate is near the point that most economists deem full employment. About 200,000 new jobs a month is considered a sign of a robust economy.

The figures for June were revised upward, with the BLS saying that 231,000 jobs were created in the month instead of the originally reported 222,000.

However, the number for May was revised downward to 145,000 from 152,000.

It was the 82nd consecutive month of jobs growth. Job gains have averaged 184,000 per month so far this year, slightly lower than last year's pace, according to David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual.

Reacting to the news, President Trump in a tweet called the numbers "excellent."

"I have only just begun," he wrote.

NPR's Chris Arnold says that "this latest report suggests that the U.S. economy is in pretty good shape."

Food services, drinking places, professional and business services, and health care all saw gains.

The average workweek was unchanged at 34.5 hours. Average hourly wages rose by 9 cents, to $26.36.

"Wage growth remains sluggish," Chris says. "Average hourly earnings were up 2.5 percent from a year ago. And most economists would like to see wages rising more quickly."

The national unemployment rate has been falling more or less steadily since a peak of 10 percent in 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession.

Related Content

Scrolling through Twitter is not for everyone, but if it's the kind of thing you’re into you’re likely to come across many tweets that make no sense. A few weeks ago one of them said this: “Curve Crunch: WTI flips to contango. Backwardation banished!”

Out on the wide open plains of West Texas, you can see the horizon for 360 degrees, interrupted only by the nodding up and down of pump jacks pulling oil up out of the earth.

There lies the aptly named town of Midland.

To get the hang of the place, you need to start downtown, on a corner near the Chase Bank, where an electric billboard displays the essentials: the temperature, a message — "God Bless Midland" — and a number. On this day, it's 45.94.